Split collar type elevator



March 16, 1937. I ,H. E. GRAU SPLIT COLLAR TYPE ELEVATOR Filed Jan. 10, 1936 INVENTQRL Patented Mar. 16, 1937 PATENT OFFICE SPLIT COLLAR TYPE ELEVATOR Herbert E. Gran, Vernon, Califi, assignor to Byron Jackson 00., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application January 10, 1936, Serial No. 58,473

8 Claims.

ticularly to the split collar type of elevator, which comprises two pipe encircling members that are connected together at the rear by a hinge connection, which enables them to be swung to an open position to receive the pipe and close around the pipe to engage a collar on the pipe for suplU porting the same, or for raising or lowering the pipe or tubing.

These elevators are, of course, supported on links which permit the hinged members to be swung open or closed, and at the forward side the pipe encircling members are provided with forwardly projecting handles, which usually incline outwardly.

It is customary to have two men on the derrick floor for handling the elevators and slips when running tubing in or out of the hole. When pulling tubing out of the hole, the elevators come down rapidly, empty and open. One of the men reaches up and grabs the elevator and guides it past the tool joint and into position around the pipe below the tool joint. The other man grabs the front handles and closes the elevator around the pipe. With the elevators in use heretofore, the man who guides the elevator has to take hold of the elevator links or the link retainers, which is awkward and apt to cause pinched fingers between the elevator and links. By the use of the present invention, the man easily grasps the handle and guides the elevator without danger of pinching.

When running pipe into the hole, one man unlatches the elevator from the front, while the other pulls the elevator away from under the tool joint as the driller starts the hoist. Here again the old type of construction was clumsy and apt to cause pinched fingers, whereas the use of the present invention overcomes these difficulties.

The object of this invention is to provide a construction for such an elevator as will improve these conditions, and which will enable the elevator to be readily handled by a man from the rear and without necessitating his taking hold of the elevator links in applying the elevator to a pipe or tubing.

A further object of the invention is to construct an elevator of this type in such a way that eifective means is provided at its rear for enabling the elevator to be pushed forward in an open position to pass over the pipe, and con- 55 structed so that the two hinged members of the elevator will maintain themselves in a substantially fixed position with respect to each other while being handled from the rear.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter. l

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efdcient split collar type elevator.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims. 7

In the drawing: 7

Figure 1 is a plan of an elevator embodying my invention, and representing the same in an open position as though about to be applied to. a pipe or tubing, as indicated in dotted lines.-

Fig. 2 is a perspective of the elevator, and also, showing end portions of the elevator links broken away. This view is taken at the rear, and particularly illustrates my improvement.

Referring more particularly to the parts, l and 2 indicate two pipe encircling members, which constitute the elevator, said members being provided with supporting lugs or arms 3, 3 at each side, that enable the elevator to be supported on the usual elevator links 4.

Fig. 1 shows the elevator in its open position but with the links omitted. In this position of the elevator its forward handles 5 incline away from each other, and a wide throat 6 is formed between the meeting faces 1 at the front of the elevator, to receive the tubing or pipe indicated by the dotted line 8.

The pipe encircling members I and 2 are connected at the rear by a hinge connection, preferably including a hinge pin 9 that passes through a pair of spaced hinge lugs ID on the pipe encircling. member 2, and an intermediatelug H integral with the opposite member I.

In applying my invention to an elevator of this type, I provide stop means preferably in the form of a dog l2 projecting outwardly from the lower lug l0, and operating when the members I and. 2 are swung apart, to engage a stop face or shoulder l3 formed on the member I. This dog and stop shoulder I3 will operate to hold the elevator members I and 2 relatively fixed with respect to each other if a force is applied to the hinge connection to move the elevator forward while in its open position. In other words, the elevator can be handled from the rear as though the members I and 2 were rigid with each other.

In order tofacilitate the control of the eleva-' tor in this way from the rear by a single hand, I provide a handle [4, which is preferably in the form of a bar, the ends of which are integrally connected with the lugs (see Fig. 2). This bail is disposed in a substantially vertical plane, and is located on the lugs in such a way that when the elevator is open this handle will project rearwardly and lie substantially in the plane of the front and rear axis [5 of the elevator, said axis being indicated by the line l5 in Fig. 1. In Fig. l the position of this handle when the elevator is closed, is indicated at Ma by the dotted lines.

In applying an elevator of this type to pipe or tubing, it will be evident that when the elevator is in its open position as illustrated in Fig. 1, a force applied to the handle l4 and acting along the front and rear axis [5, will move the elevator forwardly in its open position, and the inertia of the members I and 2 will tend to keep the dog l2 against the stop face l3 and prevent any tendency of the members I and 2 to flop to and fro on the axis of the hinge pin 9. After the elevator has been moved forward so as to bring the elevator into position around the pipe, then the members I and 2 can be swung forwardly by seizing their handles 5, and the elevator latch closed.

What I claim is:

1. In an elevator, the combination of a pair of pipe encircling members having a hinge connection between the same at the rear, enabling said members to swing open at the front to encircle the pipe, stop-means associated with the hinge connection for stopping the members in their open position, and a handle carried by said elevator adjacent the hinge connection, said handle located so that in the open position of the elevator it projects rearwardly from the same.

2. In an elevator, the combination of a pair of pipe encircling members having a hinge connection between the same at the rear, enabling said members to swing open at the front to encircle the pipe, stop-means associated with the hinge connection for stopping the members in their open position, one of said members having a pair of spaced hinge lugs at said hinge connection,

and the other of said members having an intermediate hinge lug received between said firstnamed lugs, and a handle in the form of a bar connected to said pair of lugs and located so that in the open position of the elevator it projects rearwardly in the same general direction as the front and rear axis of the elevator.

3. In an elevator, the combination of a pair of pipe encircling members having a hinge connection between the same at the rear, enabling said members to swing open at the front to encircle the pipe, stop-means associated with the hinge connection for stopping the members in their open position, one of said members having a pair of spaced hinge lugs, and the other member having an intermediate hinge lug received between the same, a hinge pin fastened through all of said lugs, and a handle in the form of a bar integral with the said pair of lugs and located so that in the open position of the elevator it projects rearwardly in the same general direction as the front and rear axis of the elevator.

4. An elevator constructed in accordance with claim 2, in which the said stop-means consists of a dog projecting outwardly from one of the hinge lugs of said pair of hinge lugs, and a stop shoulder cooperating with the dog and located on the member carrying the intermediate lug.

5. In an elevator, the combination of a pair of pipe encircling members having a hinge connection between the same at the rear, enabling said members to swing open at the front to encircle the pipe, one of said members having a pair of spaced hinge lugs and the other having an intermediate hinge lug received between the same, a hinge pin fastened'through all of said lugs, and a handle in the form of a bar integral with the said pair of lugs and located so that in the open position of the elevator it projects rearwardly from the same.

6. In an elevator, the combination of a pair of pipe encircling members having a hinge connection between the same at the rear enabling the said members to swing open at the front to encircle the pipe, stop means for limiting the opening movement of the elevator, and a handle carried by said elevator adjacent the hinge connection and located so that in the open position of the elevator the handle projects rearwardly substantially in the plane of the front and rear axis of the elevator, said handle enabling the elevator to be handled from the rear so as to move the same forwardly in its open position to encircle the pipe.

7. In an elevator, the combination of a pair of pipe-encircling members, means for connecting the same together at the rear of the elevator, enabling said members to swing open at the front to encircle the pipe, stop means for limiting the opening swinging movement of the pipeencircling members, and a handle carried by said elevator at the rear side thereof and located so that in the open position of the elevator it projects toward the rear, said handle adapted to be grasped by a man at the rear of the elevator so as to move the elevator forwardly in its open position to encircle the pipe.

8. In an elevator, the combination of a pair of pipe encircling members having a hinge connection between the same at the rear enabling said members to swing open at the front to encircle the pipe, a handle carried by the elevator adjacent the hinge connection, said handle located so that in the open position of the elevator it projects rearwardly in the same general direction as the front and rear axis of the elevator.

HERBERT E. GRAU. 

